Tech —

iPod repair scammer hit with restitution, jail time

The "iPod Mechanic," Nicholas Woodhams, won't be "repairing" any iPods in the …

The Michigan man behind a massive iPod repair and return scam will soon be thinking about his actions in a jail cell. Twenty-three-year-old Nicholas Woodhams, also known as the "iPod Mechanic," was sentenced to 13 months in prison this week after pleading guilty to mail fraud and money laundering charges earlier this year. In addition to jail time, Woodhams was ordered to pay $648,568 in restitution to Apple as well as $8,066.85 to the US Postal Service, according to the US Attorney General's Office.

Apple filed a lawsuit against Woodhams in July of 2008 for defrauding the company out of numerous iPod shuffles and other iPod repairs. The company accused Woodhams of exploiting Apple's advance replacement system for the iPod shuffle, reselling the new devices through his own website. Additionally, Woodhams exploited Apple's iPod Warranty Service Program to get repairs on iPods that were out of warranty. Less than a year later, prosecutors in Michigan filed criminal charges against Woodhams, alleging that he committed fraud and laundered money as a part of his scam.

In April of this year, Woodhams must have been scared enough to try and come up with a plea bargain, admitting that he was guilty for the criminal charges. That brings us to where we are today: Woodhams was sentenced by US District Judge Robert Holmes Bell to prison time plus restitution on Tuesday of this week. In addition to all of the above, Woodhams was also forced to forfeit about $750,000 worth of ill-gotten gains, including a house in Michigan, an Audi S4, an Ariel Atom 2, a Honda motorcycle, and more than half a million dollars in cold, hard cash.

For those keeping track, that's a grand total of about $1,406,634.85 (or so) that Woodhams will be forking over to everyone involved. For someone who is only 23, that's a hefty price to pay for what originated as an easy way to make a buck on the Internet.

Jacqui Cheng
Jacqui is an Editor at Large at Ars Technica, where she has spent the last eight years writing about Apple culture, gadgets, social networking, privacy, and more. Emailjacqui@arstechnica.com//Twitter@eJacqui